Hillary Abandons High Road With Book Deal

December 27, 2000|By Kathleen Parker,Tribune Media Services. Kathleen Parker is a syndicated writer based in South Carolina.

Holiday gift-giving has produced at least one unexpected and gratifying surprise--resolution of the ultimate mystery: How could she?

As in, how could Hillary Rodham Clinton put up with the First Philanderer all those years? How could she keep a straight face in describing The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy while her husband continued to dishonor her, repeatedly and publicly? Why, Hillary, oh why?

Now we know. Eight million buckaroos. Eight millones de dolares, bebe.

Hillary put up with Bill beyond what most reasonable women would tolerate because not only was there light at the end of the Lincoln Tunnel--a likely U.S. Senate seat--but, reliably, a pot of gold. Tucked beneath that stack of missing files that turned up on the first lady's bedside table, no doubt, was a discreet little diary, the first scribblings of an international best-seller by the most powerful woman on the planet.

But she shouldn't have. Hillary Clinton's power has come from but one thing. Not her Incredible Intellect; not her ability to schmooze people into believing she cares deeply about their state even though she's never actually lived there; not her loyalty to family or devotion to child.

What has made Hillary tolerable--even likable at times to people who otherwise opposed her--was her appearance of class. Throughout Monicagate, she hugged the high road no matter what the world and her husband dumped on her. She was above it all.

No more. Accepting an exorbitant $8 million advance for a White House confessional nullifies the effect of what she proudly accomplished by holding her head high. Her contract-to-tell tarnishes the image of moral superiority and confirms instead: Everything's for sale.

Of course, we don't know how much Hillary will actually reveal. Pre-writing, she has said her book will include a dignified discussion of the events surrounding the Lewinsky-Lollapalooza. Nevertheless, publisher Simon & Schuster must be betting people will buy the book on the suggestion, if not the promise, of a little X-rated outrage.

My own bet is Hillary won't tell enough to justify the stunning advance we all covet or even to justify a $4.95 paperback. She'll continue to hold her cards close, to protect Chelsea, if no one else. Which is to say, her book--overfinanced, overhyped and probably overpriced--will be a disappointment. Such a tease. So feminine, Hill!

Meanwhile, the advance raises questions about Hillary's ability to perform in the Senate. Although she squeezed by Senate rules, which allow advances that fall within what's considered "usual and customary" in the industry, one might reasonably question whether she can objectively weigh issues in which her publisher's parent company, Viacom, has a strong interest.

Even if Sen. Hillary is neutral in reality, the perception may be that she's been sleeping with the enemy.

In typical Clintonian fashion, Hillary is technically within legal, if not ethical, bounds. But to her beloved populist constituency, for whom $8 million is an awful lot of dough (excepting the Hollywood crowd), she's playing a risky game. As Caesar's wife knew, you must not only be above suspicion, you must appear to be above suspicion.

To promise to pawn your deepest pain for $8 million--a Faustian deal that may bedevil Hillary in days to come--is to abandon the high road for a lesser path and to risk the loss of moral capital for which even $8 million may prove inadequate compensation.